Massachusetts · Cape Cod National Seashore

Outer Cape

This is Nauset Light, Coast Guard in Eastham, and Marconi in Wellfleet — the Atlantic “backside,” not the bay, and not the whole Cape. GPS “Nauset Beach” and you will land in Orleans: a different town, a different $35 pass. In August, do not drive to Coast Guard Beach expecting a public space.

Family Surf

The vibe

These three are Cape Cod National Seashore Atlantic beaches: cold water, real surf, a glacial scarp or a spit, and a federal landscape that is allowed to move. If you learned “Cape Cod” on the bay — warmer, smaller chop, a town sticker, a snack bar — this is a different product.

Coast Guard is the gentlest access of the three, not bay-calm water. Nauset Light is the lighthouse poster under a steep scarp. Marconi is the large lot, the stairs, and the official surf beach. One NPS pass covers all three, plus Head of the Meadow in Truro. It does not cover Orleans Nauset or the Wellfleet town hollows.

Best stretches & who they’re for

Three National Seashore beaches, one pass, three different days. Nauset Light is the lighthouse and the pinch. Coast Guard is the family and wheelchair beach — in summer you park inland. Marconi is the overflow lot and the surf beach. Same ocean as Orleans Nauset and the Wellfleet hollows; not the same pass.

Beach area Best for Crowds Parking Access Water
Nauset Light Beach Directions Lighthouse + Three Sisters + Atlantic under a glacial scarp. Photographers who can arrive early Iconic, not quiet. Official fill by 10 am 87 + 4 accessible. Vehicles over 20 ft banned year-round. Drop-off prohibited. Not Nauset Beach, Orleans Downhill path from a bluff-top lot. Not the wheelchair beach Open Atlantic. Same rips, sharks, 60–70 °F water as the rest of this shore
Coast Guard + Little Creek Directions Families, strollers, beach wheelchairs. Official gentle-access / wide-stretch beach The summer day-trip machine — popular, shuttle Summer: beach lot residents + handicap only. Everyone else: Little Creek, 368 spaces, then the shuttle. Drop-off prohibited Beach-level ramp; summer Mobi-Mat + beach wheelchairs. Bike/walk 1.6 mi from Salt Pond Still open Atlantic. Access is gentler; the water is not bay calm
Marconi Beach Directions Largest NPS lot when Nauset Light is full. Official “popular with surfers.” Station site nearby Big lot, no official fill clock. Solitude pitch, not a hide 530 spaces. Same NPS pass. Wellfleet town stickers do not work here Stairs only from a lot on a steep scarp. Return climb is the cost Open Atlantic. Surf outside the guarded swim area when guards are on

Lighthouse · smallest lot

Nauset Light Beach

Eastham, NPS. Bluff-top lot at Ocean View Drive and Cable Road, one mile north of Coast Guard Directions. Typically fills by 10 am in summer — the only official fill clock. Vehicles over 20 feet are prohibited year-round in the lot and driveway. Drop-off and pickup are prohibited. Eastern face of the lot is closed (erosion buffer). 120 Nauset Light Beach Rd is the light, not the lot — do not pin that as beach parking. Three Sisters is a short walk inland on Cable Road (small Cable Road lot; do not assume lighthouse parking is beach parking). Bathhouse / restrooms / showers Open (conditions July 21, 2026); bring drinking water. This is not Nauset Beach, Orleans.

Family · step-free · shuttle

Coast Guard Beach + Little Creek

Eastham, NPS — not Coast Guard Beach, Truro. Mid-June through Labor Day, the beach lot at the end of Doane Road is Eastham residents and handicap placards only. Everyone else parks at Little Creek (368 spaces), 1.5 miles east of Salt Pond Visitor Center, 50 Nauset Road, via Nauset and Doane roads, and takes the shuttle Directions. Shuttle has been running daily since June 18, 2026. Hours and headway are not posted — do not plan around a clock that is not published. Drop-off at the beach is prohibited. The historic station is not open to the public. Limited accessible parking at the station lot (state plate or placard required). Tram closed to pets (working service animals excepted). Off-season (September to late May): no restriction at the small lot at the end of Doane Road — confirm that week after Labor Day.

Large lot · stairs · surf

Marconi Beach

Wellfleet, NPS. End of Marconi Beach Road, six miles north of Salt Pond off Route 6 Directions. 530 spaces. No official fill time. Stairs only — not the accessible or family-entry beach. 99 Marconi Site Road is park HQ, not the beach lot. 195 Marconi Station Road is the Cedar Swamp trailhead / station site — a different lot; no beach fee if you are only visiting the station. Wellfleet town stickers are not accepted. Official surf beach; still outside the lifeguarded swim area when guards are on. 15 mph lot-to-bathhouse. Restrooms and showers Open (July 21, 2026).

Same day, different decision

These three change the day when an NPS lot is full or a GPS pin is wrong. They are not the same-pass home beaches — except Head of the Meadow, which is the same pass and not next door.

Name collision · $35

Nauset Beach, Orleans

Town of Orleans, Beach Road, East Orleans Directions. Same ocean, not Nauset Light. Daily $35 in 2026 (credit at Nauset; no cash) / weekly $165 / non-resident season $420. Valid at Nauset or Skaket. Stickers do not guarantee entry if the lot is full. Bikes free. NPS pass not valid. Town oversand (Nauset Spit / Nauset Beach South) is Orleans, not the NPS Race Point corridor, and an OSV sticker does not include lot parking. NWS tides labeled “Nauset Beach” are the east-facing Cape tide line — not a direction to drive here.

Same pass · not next door

Head of the Meadow, Truro

NPS, 285 spaces. Same NPS / America the Beautiful pass Directions. Use when Nauset Light is full and you already paid NPS, or when you want officially gentler waves than Marconi and Nauset Light and will accept access over a tall dune. Often seaweed and large seal populations — higher shark-smart relevance. No tram. Do not treat this as adjacent to Nauset Light. It is the next NPS ocean beach north after the Wellfleet hollows and Truro town beaches.

Town pass · north of Marconi

Wellfleet hollows

Ocean View Drive, immediately north of Marconi. Town-managed. NPS pass not valid. Official names: Maguire Landing at LeCount Hollow; White Crest (town high-surf; surfing permitted on the guarded portion); Cahoon Hollow (Beachcomber adjacent is a private lot); Newcomb Hollow (town’s more forgiving path / gentler surf / family). Summer season: 3rd Saturday in June–Labor Day, 9:00 am–5:00 pm, permit required. Lots can fill by midday. 2026 daily-fee dollars are not published on a live town page — do not guess them. Off-season and after 5 pm: free (town CPA). Federal tracts between Newcomb and White Crest, east of Ocean View Drive: alcohol closed May 20–September 10.

Not these beaches: Eastham bay (First Encounter, Campground, Cooks Brook, Wiley Park) is Cape Cod Bay — different water, different pass. Coast Guard Beach, Truro is a different, town-managed beach (name collision; it sits on the NPS oversand table). The NPS ORV corridor is Race Point to High Head in Provincetown–Truro. Do not treat that oversand route as a swim-day plan for Nauset Light, Coast Guard (Eastham), or Marconi.

Passes, parking & getting here

NPS fees — 2026, cashless, booths

  • Private vehicle (daily) $25 — driver + passengers
  • Motorcycle (daily) $20
  • Walk / bike (age 16+) $15 — under 16 free
  • Cape Cod National Seashore annual $60 — any of the six fee beaches. In person at beach booths only. Not sold at visitor centers. Not sold online. Little Creek Fee Booth is a listed in-person location
  • America the Beautiful Resident / Non-Resident annual $80 / $250 — physical or digital via Recreation.gov. Photo ID. Receipts are not a pass. This is the verified online product. A conditions listing may say passes are available online — that means America the Beautiful, not the $60 park annual
  • Senior annual / lifetime $20 / $80. Military, Access, 4th Grade, Volunteer as listed
  • Cashless at fee booths since July 1, 2025 (credit / debit / mobile). Beach booths: credit/debit only
  • Collected only at the six beaches, not at a park gate. Daily collection began June 18, 2026 (weekends from May 22). Weekend collection after Labor Day is not confirmed for 2026
  • Fee-free still ahead: Tue Aug 25 and Thu Sept 17 (U.S. citizens/residents; other fees may still apply)

Updated Aug 13, 2026 · NPS fees + Current Conditions

Which lot takes which pass

  • Nauset Light, Little Creek, Marconi, Head of the Meadow — NPS daily / $60 park annual / America the Beautiful. Not Eastham visitor or $30 bay daily, not Wellfleet, not Orleans
  • Nauset Light town/taxpayer section — Eastham Taxpayer Seashore Sticker (free; town section staffed / required July 1). A general NPS pass does not put you in taxpayer stalls
  • Coast Guard beach lot, summer — Eastham residents + handicap placard only. General public: Little Creek
  • Nauset Beach, Orleans — Orleans $35 / weekly / season. NPS pass not valid
  • Wellfleet hollows — Wellfleet town/visitor sticker. NPS pass not valid. No 2026 dollar amount here
  • Eastham bay — town taxpayer or visitor sticker; $30 daily at Campground, Cooks Brook, First Encounter, Wiley Park (cash/check). Does nothing at the ocean NPS lots
  • Lots at Little Creek, Coast Guard, Nauset Light, and Marconi are closed 12 am–6 am
  • Buses prohibited at all Seashore beach lots July 4 through after Labor Day
  • Salt Pond Visitor Center, 50 Nauset Road — orientation and fire-permit desk, 9 am–5 pm as of July 21, 2026. Park annual passes are not sold here

There is no visitor gate onto the Outer Cape. Route 6 is the spine. The fee booths are at the beach lots. NPS oversand permits are a Race Point, Provincetown product — they cannot be acquired for rental vehicles, and they are not how you swim at these three beaches.

On the sand

  • No official shade at these three. Bring your own, or plan on none.
  • Water is 60–70 °F in summer. Friday’s east-coast reading: around 70. Not the bay.
  • Swim at guarded beaches in season. Guards typically late June through Labor Day only (2026 = Sept 7). No daily clock hours are posted. After Labor Day the Atlantic is the same water with no chair.
  • Rips are park-wide, not ranked by beach. Swim near a guard; exit parallel to shore. Flags on the sand: green / yellow / red / red no-swim / purple marine life / purple shark. There is no official live flag feed.
  • Surfing / SUP allowed on saltwater beaches; prohibited in the lifeguarded swimming area when guards are on. Marconi and White Crest are the official surf pitches.
  • Stay 150 feet from seals. Do not swim among them. Do not set up on Nauset Spit sandbars with hauled-out gray seals. Purple shark flag = a sighting. NPS cites white-shark bites since 2012 in waters off Truro and Wellfleet.
  • Pets are not on lifeguarded sand in summer (leashed pass-through only if no shorebird closure beyond). 6-foot leash; pack out waste. Not on the Coast Guard tram. Coast Guard to the right of pedestrian access as you face the water, plus Nauset Marsh, closed to pets April 1–October 15. Variable closures Marconi through Nauset Light — beach signs win. Not on the Nauset bike trail May 1–October 31.
  • No glass on beach or dune areas. No rafts / rubber tubes, snorkels / masks on lifeguarded beaches. No climbing slopes or dunes. No holes deeper than knee level. No bikes on beaches or dunes. No drones. No metal detectors. No public nudity. Smoking / ENDS prohibited on protected swim beaches when guards are on.
  • Fires need a free permit — 4 per day at each of Coast Guard, Nauset Light, and Marconi. Reserve up to 3 days ahead from 9 am, in person preferred, at Salt Pond, 508-255-3421 ext. 0. June–September: 100–500 feet beyond the lifeguarded beach; flames ≤3 ft; not before 5 pm (5:30 pm at Coast Guard). Portable pits prohibited. Self-contained charcoal / gas grills OK without a permit.
  • There is no general alcohol ban at Nauset Light, Coast Guard (Eastham), or Marconi. Open alcohol is banned on the federal Cahoon Hollow tract (Newcomb–White Crest, east of Ocean View Drive) May 20–September 10. Town Wellfleet bans alcohol on town public lands. Glass is the injury rule.

What first-time visitors often get wrong

  • Bay vs Atlantic. First Encounter, Campground, Cooks Brook, and Wiley Park are Cape Cod Bay — warmer, calmer, a different pass. An Eastham $30 daily bought at a bay lot does nothing at the ocean NPS lots.
  • Nauset Light (Eastham, NPS) is not Nauset Beach (Orleans, town). GPS “Nauset Beach” often routes to Orleans. Different town, different $35 (2026) pass, different oversand rules.
  • Driving to Coast Guard Beach in August. The beach lot is resident / handicap only mid-June–Labor Day. General public = Little Creek + shuttle, or bike / walk from Salt Pond. Drop-off is prohibited.
  • August lot fill. Official clock only for Nauset Light: typically full by 10 am. Little Creek is larger (368) but finite. Marconi is largest (530) with no official fill time. Orleans stickers do not guarantee a space. Same-pass backups: Marconi or Head of the Meadow — and Head of the Meadow is not next door.
  • Guards end Labor Day. Typically through Monday, Sept 7 only. After that: no guards until about the third week of June. White sharks remain active in fall. Do not treat September water as off-duty safe.
  • Cliff / stair access. Marconi = stairs only. Nauset Light = downhill path on a steep scarp, not beach-level. Coast Guard is the accessible one. Vehicles over 20 ft cannot enter the Nauset Light driveway.
  • No official shade. Pages do not list pavilions at these three.
  • Cold water. Summer ocean 60–70 °F. Not Caribbean; not bay.
  • Rips. Park-wide. NWS Low / Moderate / High is for the Barnstable east coast, not a ranking of these three lots.
  • Coast Guard Beach, Truro is not Coast Guard Beach, Eastham.
  • Passes are not sold at visitor centers. The $60 park annual is beach booths only — not Salt Pond, not online. Digital America the Beautiful via Recreation.gov is the online product. Cashless at the booths.
  • Pets in August. Not on lifeguarded sand. Not on the Coast Guard tram. Coast Guard right-side + Nauset Marsh closed April 1–October 15.
  • Seals mean sharks. Stay 150 feet. Don’t swim among seals.

Beach safety — who to trust

Skip tourism widgets, Surfline, and town Facebook. The Seashore does not run a staffed surf report. Use this stack:

  • Rip / surf / east-coast water temp / Atlantic-face tides — NWS BOX SRF for MAZ022 Barnstable east coast. Tides labeled “Nauset Beach” are the east-facing Cape line, not a pin for Orleans. Latest SRF · Surf-zone hub
  • Nearshore marine — ANZ254 (Provincetown to Chatham to Nantucket out 20 NM). Do not use bay zone ANZ231, or ANZ232 / ANZ250 / ANZ251. ANZ254
  • Land / point forecast — MAZ022 Barnstable. Eastham ocean pin
  • Beach open / restrooms / shuttle-fee calendar / sharks — NPS Current Park Conditions, last updated July 21, 2026. Those listings are not live flags.
  • Beach flags — on the sand only. No official live web feed
  • Tide sensor — there is no NOAA gauge on the open sand at Nauset Light, Coast Guard, or Marconi. Do not use Wellfleet Harbor (8446613) or Chatham Lydia Cove (8447435) for ocean-beach width. Harbor range is a different water body (~10 ft the same day the SRF Nauset Beach line is ~4–5 ft)
  • Glance imagery, not a conditions source of record — USGS CoastCam at Marconi only (project page; half-hourly daylight, 10-minute delay; stale may mean offline). No official NPS webcam at Nauset Light or Coast Guard. The Nauset Beach cam on the NPS webcams page is Orleans, not Nauset Light. Head of the Meadow USGS cam is temporarily decommissioned

If you are already here

Pair a beach with one stop that is actually on this shore. Dated ranger programs are not online for 2026 — ask at Salt Pond.

Nauset Light

The tower at 120 Nauset Light Beach Rd Directions — that address is the light, not the beach lot. Park at the beach lot (fee/pass) and walk. Interior only during posted open-house hours (see Coming up). Grounds dawn to dusk.

Three Sisters

Short walk inland on Cable Road from Nauset Light. Small lot on the north side of Cable Road, or walk from the beach lot. Towers in original line, 150 feet apart. Grounds are visitable without a tour. Interiors historically closed except on guided tours — 2026 interior days are not posted. Call Salt Pond, 508-255-3421.

Marconi Station + Cedar Swamp

195 Marconi Station Road Directions — a different lot from Marconi Beach. No beach fee if you are only visiting the station. Observation platform and waysides; almost the entire 1903 wireless site has fallen onto the beach. Atlantic White Cedar Swamp is a 1.2-mile loop from the same road; no pets.

Salt Pond Visitor Center

50 Nauset Road, Eastham Directions. Open 9 am–5 pm as of July 21, 2026. Fire permits for Coast Guard, Nauset Light, and Marconi. Nauset Bicycle Trail to Coast Guard (1.6 mi). Park annual passes are not sold here.

Notes before you pack

Names

Nauset Light is not Nauset Beach

Nauset Light Beach is Eastham, National Seashore, Ocean View Drive at Cable Road. Nauset Beach is Orleans, town-managed, $35 in 2026, NPS pass not valid. If your pin says “Nauset Beach,” check the town before you drive.

Coast Guard

The lot is inland because the storm took the old one

The white station at the end of Doane Road is a 1937 life-saving building — not open to the public. The beach-side lot went in the February 1978 northeaster. Parking was rebuilt inland so the spit could keep moving. The Little Creek shuttle is that decision, not a convenience. In summer, do not drive to the station expecting a public space.

Names

Two Coast Guards

Coast Guard Beach, Eastham is this guide — NPS, Little Creek, ramp, families. Coast Guard Beach, Truro is town-managed and sits on the NPS oversand table. Same name, different town, different day.

Tides

No gauge on this sand

For high and low on the Atlantic face, use the NWS Surf Zone Forecast line labeled “Nauset Beach.” Wellfleet Harbor and Chatham Lydia Cove are the wrong basin — useful for harbors, not for how wide this beach is.

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